Pinkie Pie bounced through the orchard happily, hoping to find her friend Applejack. Big Mac had pointed down this way.
“Hey Applejack!” Pinkie greeted her friend excitedly. Applejack looked up to see a pink, grinning face pushed into hers.
“Personal space here, sugarcube. Ah’m trying to buck these here trees- and ah need to do it all before supper!”
“Aw, come one, Applejack! Don’t you want to come over for some cake?”
“Pinkie, ah don’t got the time! Ah’ve been under some stress lately, as the Flimflam brothers have dared show their faces here again and if ah don’t have fifty bushels of apples for the pies tomorrah Sweet Apple Acres’ll be ruined!”
“Come on silly, there’s always time to have fun!”
“Ah said, NO!” the mare snapped. “Pinkie, get out of here!”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie cheerfully departed. “Just don’t forget to smile!”
Applejack let out a deep breath.
“That pony needs to take things seriously. Ah wish she’d know when to stop.” she mumbled to herself. “Although maybe Ah was too hurtful with mah words. Ah’ll apologize later.”
The next day was bright and sunny, but Applejack was not. She had spent the whole night bucking the apple trees for all their worth, but she only managed to buck twenty-seven bushels before the sun rose. The Flimflam brothers were slowly gaining business, which meant less money for Applejack’s family, and that meant no repairs for the broken plow and the hole in the barn. She trudged through the marketplace in Ponyville, hauling Granny Smith’s famous apple pies to their stand. Granny Smith was waiting for her there.
“Oh sweetie,” her granny gazed at the shadows under Applejack’s eyes, concerned. “Why don’t ya go have a rest. Ah’ll take over the stand.” Applejack opened her mouth to argue, but suddenly felt woozy. The last thing she saw before she fell over was Pinkie Pie’s smiling face.
“W-where am ah?” Applejack came to as her surroundings slowly became less fuzzy.
“Oh hey there, sleepy head!” a pink blur giggled. It focused and Pinkie Pie came into sight. Applejack tried to get up, but couldn’t.
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you. The drugs are still wearing off.”
“The drugs?” Applejack’s head felt like it was full of bricks.
“Yeah! I drugged you and took you here, into your barn, silly filly! No one else knows we’re here!”
“What... why?” Applejack struggled to understand.
“Well, you were so sad and I hate when my friends are sad and I wanted to make you smile because that’s my talent and then I had an idea to cheer you up! And I’m so happy that I can help you smile! But you just have to cooperate if you want a big, healthy grin! Now just hold still!” Applejack knew she couldn’t move anyway, but she was perplexed that Pinkie had dragged her in here. What was she up to? Big straps were fastening her down, cutting into her coat.
“There! Nice and tight! I would have Big Mac help me tie those heavy leather bonds, but he can’t know about this, can he?” Pinkie winked at Applejack as if they shared a secret. Then she trotted out of her field of vision, and returned with a knife, some nails, and a hammer.
“Careful! This will hurt, but in the end you will never stop smiling! Ooh, I’m so excited! I could just squeal! Why didn’t I think of this before? ”
“Pinkie!” Applejack panicked as the knife came closer. “Pinkie, what are you doing?!”
“Shh! We don’t want anyone hear us have fun, or they’ll ruin it!” Pinkie Pie warned. Obviously, Applejack opened her mouth scream- and with a swift slice, her tongue was cut clean off. Shock coursed through her body as the burning pain in her mouth hit her. She almost blacked out from the agony. Blood dribbled out of her mouth as she tried to articulate, but all that came out was- “haww... cld... euu...” -she couldn’t believe that Pinkie had actually... she just thought it was a joke... tears coursed down her cheeks as she realized she’d never be able to sing again, never laugh with her friends, or tell another of her escapades. But Pinkie wasn’t done yet. Taking out the knife, she cut Applejack’s lips in the shape of a smile. But the gruesome, bloody flap just drooped down. The agony was like nothing she’d ever experienced, not even when a wood beam had crushed her foot as a filly and temporarily crippled her. At least then, she received bandages and painkillers.
“Hmm...” Pinkie studied the grimace she had permanently caused. “This didn’t happen last time I did this... wait! I know! Don’t worry, I’ll get something to fix that smile!” she hopped away. Applejack was relieved to have a moment’s rest, and it gave her time to think. Pinkie Pie mentioned ‘last time’... had her friend been crazy all along? Which pony before her had been fooled?
“It was my sister, you know,” the energetic pink pony was thoughtful all of a sudden. “She didn’t like my parties. She thought they were disruptive- and- and rude! Can you believe it? So I just had to help her understand. Since my parties didn’t make her happy, I took action quickly. I love helping ponies smile, so that’s what I did!” Then Pinkie, with renewed energy, stabbed Applejack eagerly, the blood spraying her face.
“Almost forgot,” she grinned. “I sliced you in a place so that you’ll have a drawn out death! That way, we can have fun for days before you die!” Applejack vomited. Then Pinkie Pie grabbed the old, rusty hammer and blunt nails. She unstrapped Applejack, who collapsed onto the ground, blood splattering onto the dusty floorboards. The farm pony would have kicked her, but her weak legs gave out and she puked once more. With amazing strength for a town pony, Pinkie Pie propped Applejack against the abandoned barn’s wall. Hammering the dull nails was tough work, but eventually pierced the orange skin which had turned very pale as Applejack tried not to give in to bawling, because she knew that’s what Pinkie wanted. But as she stared into her friends eyes, she saw no malice, no hate. Only sincere happiness. Was it because she thought she was “assisting” Applejack, or because she loved tormenting other ponies? The only thing she knew for sure was that the enthusiastic pink pony was crazy. All of a sudden, the old nail slid through her hoof, splintering bone and cutting flesh. Applejack couldn’t help it. She screamed. She wanted it to be over, and tried to swear at Pinkie, but all that came out was moans. The deranged rosy pony happily hummed under her breath as she nailed the other hoof to the wall. Pinkie picked up the knife again, and slashed Applejack again, using her hoof to spell ‘Don’t forget to smile’. Finally, she jammed two nails tight into her face so it seemed as if Applejack was smiling.
“Well, see you tomorrow, Applejack! We’ll have even more fun then!” Right then, Applejack knew that no matter how much she pleaded, she wouldn’t be set free. Pinkie was going to slowly, painfully kill her. After the light that blazed through the barn door disappeared almost all the way, only leaving a few shafts of light that slanted through the boards, she made her move. Kicking the table she had been strapped to with her strong legs that had regained some strength, the knife that Pinkie had so neglectfully forgotten hurled itself into the air and sunk into the wood next to Applejack’s head a good inch away. She clenched it in her teeth, and shakily plunged it into her heart. Her last regret was not being able to say goodbye to her friends and family.
Rainbow Dash zoomed through the skies, demolishing fluffy, white clouds as she went. It was a gorgeous day in Ponyville, and she wanted to spend the whole day with her friends at the picnic they had planned. Unfortunately, Applejack was late, so her friends elected her to fetch the hardworking farm pony, who was probably just taking a well-deserved rest after the toil. Wind whipped through her hair and far below, the apple trees rustled softly.
“Fastest of the fast-” she plunged into a nimbus cloud- “It’s... Rainbow Dash!” As she streaked out, a shimmering rainbow appeared. “Aw yeah,” the blue pegasus alighted right next to Apple Bloom and her friends. “Thirty seconds flat.”
“Wow!” Scootaloo squealed. “Awesome!”
“Yep. I am pretty awesome.” Rainbow Dash bragged. “Anyway, I need to find Applejack. You seen her around lately?”
“No,” Applebloom drooped unhappily. “She didn’t come back last night. She fainted from exhaustion and Pinkie Pie took her to her house to cheer her up. But we haven’t seen her since!”
“Did you check that old barn? It seems like she might have gone there to rest, get away from the bustle,” Rainbow suggested.
“That ole’ rundown thing? Naw, it’s too dangerous and full of rusty items. We abandoned it a long time ago.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Rainbow Dash remarked. The fillies watched in admiration as the pegasus glided skillfully around the clouds and landed on the far hill by the old barn. Suddenly, a ear-splitting screech echoed through the usually calm, quiet orchard, sending up flocks of crows.
“Rainbow Dash!” the three girls cried. The trio climbed onto Scootaloo’s scooter and sped to the sinister structure. Rainbow Dash was frozen with shock, her magenta eyes fixed on... Applejack. She hung from the wall, head lolling and blood dripping from her mouth. Nails impaled her front hooves, and she had been stabbed in many places. What was the most disturbing was her face. Mouth spread open, unnaturally wide, and held in place by more nails, she grinned eerily. And written in her own blood, on the wall: ‘Don’t forget to smile!’.
“She-she’s dead,” Rainbow Dash stammered. That broke the trance. Apple Bloom began wailing like a babe, and ran up to the corpse, hugging the maimed body and screaming.
“APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK! NO!”
Author's Note
Good Bye, Applejack.
